Explaining Michelangelo
by Taura Callisto
Summary: Being new to the group, Casey hasn't quite got a grasp on how Mikey can remotely be considered a ninja. Casey feels that Mikey is loud, unfocused, a little lazy, and very random most of the time. April decides it's time to educate Casey on just how dedicated Mikey can be.


My first foray into writing for TMNT. This was written with the 2012 turtles in mind.

...

Being an outsider of the Hamato clan, April had the unique privilege to observe her turtle friends in their natural habitat. Having had the unfortunate circumstance where she had had to live with them briefly, she came to know the in-and-outs of their daily life. So when Casey Jones, newly introduced to the turtles and not completely familiar with each of their own special oddities, had made the off-handed comment about her youngest turtle-brother being a complete goof and how could he possibly be a full-out ninja; she decided it was up to her to straighten him out.

Casey had been around long enough to understand that every morning, except Sundays, the turtles were busy with family training. He had only come across this knowledge when he had tried one Saturday to get Raph to come hang out with him, only to have his request denied. He had been astonished when he had learned that group practice always started at 7 a.m. on the dot and generally lasted anywhere between three to four hours, sometimes upwards of six if Master Splinter was introducing a new technique. It had seemed extreme, but when Raphael had pointed out that Casey tended to practice his hockey for a couple hours every day, he had seen Raph's point.

But Casey still couldn't seem to connect that knowledge of the turtles' family schedule, something that was very dedicated to ninjutsu, with the goofy, sometimes lazy, and always loud, orange-wearing turtle, Michelangelo.

April, knowing that if Casey was planning to remain a part of the mutant family's lives, he would have to be educated on how the Hamato clan worked. Not to mention that while the three older brothers were so far mildly tolerant of Casey's occasional sarcastic comments of their youngest brother, it would no doubt become a problem if he didn't stop making them. Mikey could be the world's biggest pest, but he was still their baby brother, and no outsider was going to insult him; that was strictly their privilege.

So after a patrol one weekend evening, when the human teens had both planned on staying and vegging on the couch after everyone had settled down and gone their own ways, April pulled Casey aside to enlighten him on how the Hamato family worked.

Each turtle had a routine. It sometimes varied depending on the day and what crisis might be occurring, but typically it looked like this…

Each turtle was required to attend daily training starting at seven in the morning. Generally Leo was always the first up and would complete his warm-ups and some simple sword skills before eating breakfast.

Mikey was usually expected to make breakfast most days, so he was the second turtle up. With Raph and Don following after but not in any particular order.

All four did the required training till their sensei allowed them to leave, then it was generally an all-out race to see who would get to the shower first. Something April had learned her first week after meeting them and being allowed into their closely guarded lair. She had made the unfortunate mistake of simply trying to wash her hands in the bathroom sink after her trek through the sewers to get to the lair, and training had just finished. She was nearly trampled by four surprisingly quick turtles.

April laughed inwardly at the memory of the turtles' reaction to having nearly smushed her, it was quite comical after the fact.

Getting back to the task at hand, April continued her explanation.

After training and showers, the turtles' were on their own for lunch and had a brief rest period before they were expected to complete an hour doing something educational. Splinter had explained to her that though the teenaged turtles had for all intents and purposes completed school, he still required that they do something to enrich and better themselves daily. As long as it was educational, the chosen subject didn't really matter as long as it was approved by Splinter first. Raph had told her that Splinter simply wanted an hour of quiet time to watch his Soaps in peace.

When Casey asked what exactly they studied, April only shrugged. The short time she had lived with them, the turtles had always done this hours' time in their own rooms, and she was never brave enough to bother them. Though she had an inkling that Leo did something in Japanese, only because she had overheard him once, and that Mikey did something artsy because he often came out of his room with either paint or charcoal on his hands.

It was usually mid-afternoon by the time they were done and they had the rest of the day to themselves for the most part, unless it was their turn for one-on-one training with Master Splinter, and each of them did this training at least once a week if not more. If nothing major was going on, they would go about their day until it was time for evening patrol. Evening patrol always started thirty minutes after sunset, which meant the time varied depending on the time of year.

At this point Casey rolled his eyes. He knew all about patrols. He had been going out with the turtles almost every night for a month now and he said as much to April. What exactly did any of this have to do with Mikey being the anti-ninja?

With a huff of frustration April continued her explanation.

The turtles were dedicated to their craft. Master Splinter had high expectations of them and expected each of them to hone their skills. They were old enough and skilled enough now that they were able to practice individually at a time of their choosing. Leo in the morning and on and off throughout the day. Raph after their hour of educational activities, spent time with his weights or his punching bag and throughout the day did target practice with his sais, usually at Mikey's expense. Don did his practice in his lab in the afternoons, usually while waiting for various results and data to finish running on his computer. He was the master of multi-tasking.

Here April stopped her explanation and checked her watch. It was a little after midnight and the lair had grown quiet as most of its occupants had gone to bed.

Taking Casey's hand she stood up and pulled Casey up with her. She briefly frowned at his smirk following the action, before quickly letting his hand go and signaling Casey to be quiet.

April beckoned him to follow her and she led the two out of the lair, past the turnstiles and took a sharp right down the abandoned subway tunnel.

They had only walked fifty feet from the lair's entrance when she stopped. Ignoring Casey's questioning gaze, she pointed to a door that sat deep in the wall of the tunnel; a faded sign barely readable stated that it led to something electrical.

April opened the door slowly and Casey was surprised to find that the door opened easily and with no squeaks. Clearly the hinges were well taken care of despite the door's rusted and aged appearance.

Behind the door was a short, dark hallway that curved to the left following the natural curve of the tunnel outside. The hallway was just long enough that Casey could only tell that there was a dim light coming from the end of it but couldn't make out its source.

Motioning Casey forward at a slow, tip-toeing pace, the two human teenagers made their way along the hall until they came to the room at the end. Staying in the shadows but moving out of the way, April pushed Casey in front of herself and pointed. Following her gesture, Casey was momentarily stunned at the sight before him.

There in the middle of a small rectangular room, facing partially away from the door, was Michelangelo, eyes closed as he finished what looked like the end of a particularly difficult kata. He had already worked up a slight sweat, indicating that he'd been here a while, but his breathing was soft and calm. As the two teens watched, Mikey completed his kata and with lightning quick speed, had one nunchaku out from his belt and was spinning it about his body, switching it from hand to hand. After a few moments of this the other nunchaku was brought out and both were moved gracefully but with deadly speed in sync with each other.

Casey watched wide-eyed, clearly not sure what to make of the scene in front of him. A slight tug on his arm had him looking back at April, who was motioning him back the way they had come through the dark hallway.

A short trip back to the lair later, and both teens were now sitting quietly at the kitchen table, each with a drink and a small bag of chips. April smiled over at Casey as he looked deep in thought, clearly trying to work out how that 'focused-nunchaku-wielding-Mikey' could have been the same 'lazy-goofball-Mikey' he was accustomed to seeing.

But he at least recognized what April had been getting at when she had gone through the tedious description of the turtles' day to day activities. Casey was all for patrols and hanging out with the guys, but clearly he hadn't put much thought into how it was they were able to do the stuff they were able to do. To use their weapons to the skill level that the four ninja turtles used them as, spoke of hours upon hours of practice every day for years; no doubt the majority of their entire lives.

In the future, Casey would be more careful about his comments and his perception of the youngest turtle. Clearly there was dedication and skill behind all those silly antics the orange-wearing turtle was known for at any given moment of the day. With a slight smile in April's direction to let her know he understood all she had told him, he got up from his chair and made to leave. Throwing his soda can, basketball style, into the trashcan, he shot her a smirk and a wink before racing from the room to head home.

With a shake of her head, she too got up at a more sedate pace, and readied herself for a night on the couch. April felt good that she had successfully worked on bettering Casey's attitude toward Mikey. Now if she could only help him tone down the cockiness, her life would be that much easier.

...

Hope that wasn't too weird to read. I decided to try something new and write a story with no actual dialogue just to see if I could and it was definitely a challenge at some parts. Mostly I was just hoping to show that I think Mikey is much more capable than he is portrayed in a lot of stories. Thanks for reading!


End file.
